Loy Krathong – Thailand’s Most Stunning Festival

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The word Loy means to float and Krathong is a hand made banana leaf cup that can contain candles, coins or other items such as joss sticks. The krathong is placed in the water and is supposed to take away all ill fortune.

The legend of Loy Krathong is based on the legend of a 13^th century royal consort making the first krathong and setting it adrift in the canal of the palace hoping it would float past her king. The king seeing the creation was delighted and thus began the saying that if two lovers placed a krathong in the water, their love would last forever if it stayed afloat until it was out of sight.

It is not only krathongs that form the ritual of the festival, another well known symbol of the festival are lanterns. These can be used to decorate the houses and temples to worship the spirits. The most common type of lantern is the hot air one (kom loy) which people launch into the air to take away their bad luck.

This year, like any other during Loy Krathong, every river and canal in the Kingdom of Thailand will be something special to see as almost the whole population make their way to the water’s edge to send their krathong away taking all their ill fortunes with it. The riverbanks will be full of kneeling people asking the goddess to forgive their transgressions during the past year.

The beautiful beach city of Pattaya always celebrates Loy Krathong with enormous enthusiasm and a host of special activities. Many of these activities and events are held on the beaches at Pattaya and Jomtien and always feature lanterns, fireworks and floating krathongs. The sight of thousands of lit krathongs floating upon the ocean is something not to be missed. Meanwhile the skies above are filled with the light of hundreds of lanterns floating up to the heavens. It is quite spectacular and never fails to thrill.